Wizards forward/center Oleksiy Pecherov participated in the Annual Washington Area Ukrainian Festival on Saturday in Silver Spring, Maryland. Pecherov was also extended an invitation to take part in the opening ceremonies with Archbishop Antony of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the United States and Oleh Shamshur, the Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States and other state and local dignitaries.
Pecherov was joined by his parents: Vladimir and Olga and his younger brother Sasha. His family is spending the month of September visiting their son and brother in his new home of Washington, DC.
Pecherov enjoyed the afternoon as he visited and mingled with different families, took pictures with new, adoring fans and enjoyed a Ukrainian feast.
Are you “Hibachi” enough? We saw Gilbert Arenas turn on the Hibachi during the season, now it’s your turn to show us your hibachi combined with some creative photography skills. The Wizards are holding a Hibachi Photo Contest now in search of the most creative Wizards fans. Take pictures of yourself, your family, or your friends in front of your hibachi, grill, or barbecue pit. Feel free to make these pictures as creative as you would like, it doesn’t hurt to show us your Wizards spirit, but just remember to have fun!
Here are a few Hibachi Photos submitted by our fans. As they can do it, you can do it. It’s just this simple, and you don’t have to be a photoshop artist to submit your photo. The grand prize winner will receive a signed Gilbert Arenas jersey!
Wizards All-Star guard Gilbert Arenas said in his recent blog that he is working on making 100,000 shots over 73 days. It turned out to be an immediate hit, (the NBA clearly got bored while long waiting for the KG-to-Boston trade to become official, and it did that afternoon), so that the NBA Entertainment sent down a camera crew to film his workout at Verizon Center practice court yesterday morning (July 31).
You must be wondering what kinds of shots that count. According to Drew Cleary (Wizards strength and conditioning coach and Gilbert’s training partner), Gilbert has been working on a variety of jump shots, including 18-footers, college threes and NBA three-pointers as well as short jumpers from various spots. Layups do not count into the total.
Now let’s see what Gilbert has to do to achieve this goal in 73 days. That means he needs to make at least 1,370 shots each day. He has made close to 20,000 shots since July 19 (within just two weeks), according to Drew Cleary. His pace now is about making 1,500 shots a day which will make him well ahead of his projected schedule (around September 29 just before Wizards training camp).
“In his seventh professional season — but his first in DC — DeShawn Stevenson enjoyed his finest professional season. Stevenson averaged career-high marks in field goal % (.461), 3pt. field goal % (.404) and assists per game (2.7), and as the only Wizard to have appeared in and started every game this season, he stretched his consecutive games started streak to 168 straight games; the third longest streak among active players behind only San Antonio’s Bruce Bowen and Detroit’s Tayshaun Prince.
“Additionally, having come to Washington during the off-season with just 53 total three-pointers made in his first six NBA seasons, Stevenson’s 74 three balls in 2006-07 alone more than doubled his previous tally — and in the late season absence of Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler, Stevenson filled in as one of Washington’s top offensive options. In 11 games in April, Stevenson averaged 13.6 points and 3.7 assists per game to help Washington secure the East’s 7th seed.”
Was this DeShawn’s one and only season in DC? Or will he be back for more? Time will tell and we’ll learn more after July 1. In the meantime, post your thoughts on DeShawn and what you think he meant to the team on (and off) the floor this past season.
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